Staffordshire-based cancer skin care company receives significant MEIF investment

Jennifer Young – founder and managing director

 

Jennifer Young Ltd to expand product and service offerings to cancer patients as a result of cash injection.

Located in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Jennifer Young Ltd, the cosmetics and skin care company, has received new investment from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) West Midlands Equity Fund, managed by Birmingham-based venture capital business Midven.

Jennifer Young Ltd has developed a range of products, with particular emphasis on skin care for those living with cancer. The firm is set to use the funding to grow its existing sales channels and expand its offering to international markets.

The company will also be using the investment to build its team and marketing function.Jennifer Young, founder and managing director of the business, has over 25 years of experience working in the healthcare sector. After being introduced to her local hospital’s chemotherapy ward, Young developed a range of specialist cosmetics for those going through cancer treatment.

With support from the NHS, Young formulated natural products to help combat the side-effects of cancer treatments that impact the skin. She also founded The Jennifer Young Training School which offers qualifications in massage, facials, reflexology, aromatherapy and sleep therapy treatments for patients.

Jennifer Young, Founder and Managing Director at Jennifer Young, says: As a business, we aim to support as many people receiving cancer treatment as possible. The funding we’ve received from the MEIF will allow us to continue to enhance the quality of life for those we work with and produce more quality products that can help them feel a sense of joy during an unimaginably difficult time. We look forward to working towards our goals with Midven’s helping hand and expanding the Jennifer Young team and its products internationally.”

Giovanni Finocchio, Investment Director at Midven, says: “It was clear when we first met Jennifer that she was both very knowledgeable and extremely passionate about the people her company serves. On discussing her business plans and vision, we immediately recognised the product and service gap that she was trying to fulfil. We bought into her vision and made the investment and are confident the company will become one of the great growth stories of the region. We look forward to working with the team.”

Grant Peggie, Director at the British Business Bank, said: “The MEIF was set up to improve the finance landscape for small growing businesses across the Midlands. This latest investment in Jennifer Young is allowing the firm to expand its offering, enter new markets and recruit staff. We would encourage other smaller businesses within Stoke and Staffordshire to discuss with the MEIF fund managers the various funding options available to them.”

About Jennifer Young Ltd

Created with the help of the NHS, Jennifer Young Ltd produces natural, luxurious and indulgent skincare products for those suffering with cancer and receiving medical treatment that affects the skin. The UK-based company also runs a training school – The Jennifer Young Training School, which pioneers in accredited oncology massage training in parts of Europe, Asia and the USA.

About Midven

For more than 25 years, leading Birmingham-based venture capital firm Midven has been supporting Midlands SMEs, investing more than £60m into the region and raising £200m co-investment into their portfolio. Midven’s ‘more than money’ approach helps to build strong and successful companies and support businesses every step of the way. Midven continues to extend its reach to invest in the Midland’s most ambitious entrepreneurs through its recent appointment to manage the £35 million equity portion of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), as well as the launch of the firm’s first Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) fund. For more information about Midven, please visit www.midven.co.uk.

About the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF)

  • The Midlands Engine Investment Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, will invest in Debt Finance, Small Business Loans, Proof-of-Concept and Equity Finance funds, ranging from £25,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses secure the funding they need for growth and development.
  • The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is operated by British Business Financial Services Limited, wholly owned by British Business Bank, the UK’s national economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity.
  • The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, the European Investment Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and British Business Finance Limited, a British Business Bank group company.
  • The MEIF covers the following LEP areas: Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham & Solihull, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, The Marches, and Worcestershire in the West Midlands; and Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham & Nottinghamshire (D2N2) Greater Lincolnshire, Leicester and Leicestershire, and South-East Midlands in the East and South-East Midlands.
  • The project is receiving up to £78,550,000 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The programme will continue to spend to the end of 2023.
  • The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit gov.uk/european-growth-funding.
  • The Government has guaranteed all funding allocated through EU programmes until the end of 2020. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-from-eu-programmes-guaranteed-until-the-end-of-2020
  • The European Investment Bank is providing £122,500,000 to support the Midlands Engine Investment Fund. This follows backing for the Northern Powerhouse in 2017 and backing for the newly launched North East Fund. For further information visit eib.org
  • The funds in which Midlands Engine Investment Fund invests are open to businesses with material operations in or planning to open material operations in the West Midlands and East & South-East Midlands.

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

The British Business Bank programmes were supporting more than £7.7bn of finance to over 94,900 smaller businesses at end of December 2019. Since March 2020, the British Business Bank has launched four new Coronavirus business loan schemes, delivering tens of billions of pounds of finance to over a million businesses.

As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options available to smaller businesses:

  • The Business Finance Guide (published in partnership with the ICAEW and a further 21 business and finance organisations) impartially sets out the range of finance options available to businesses at all stages – from start-ups to SMEs and growing mid-sized companies. Businesses can take the interactive journey atthebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk/bbb.
  • The new British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to high-growth businesses about their finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success. The new site also features case studies and learnings from real businesses to guide businesses through the process of applying for growth finance.

As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, British Business Bank plc is wholly owned by HM Government and is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank operates under its own brand name through a number of subsidiaries, none of which are authorised and regulated by the FCA.

British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.